Featured Research

from universities, journals, and other organizations

Violence is part of the job, say nurses, as study shows only 1 in 6 incidents are reported

Date:

February 3, 2010

Source:

Wiley - Blackwell

Summary:

Three-quarters of nurses providing private and public care experienced workplace violence, but only one in six incidents were formally reported, according to a new study. The majority (92%) had been verbally abused, 69% had been physically threatened and 52% had been physically assaulted. Nurses faced an average of two to 46 incidents a year, with higher levels in the emergency department and mental health. 40% of staff had been involved in an incident with a weapon including guns, knives and hospital equipment.

Share This

Three-quarters of nurses providing private and public care experienced workplace violence, but only one in six incidents were formally reported, according to study published in the February issue of the Journal of Clinical Nursing.

Related Articles

The majority (92%) said they had been verbally abused, 69% had been physically threatened and 52% had been physically assaulted. A total of 2,354 incidents were reported to the research team, with nurses facing an average of two to 46 incidents a year.

"Many of the nurses who took part in the research said that they did not report incidents because they felt that workplace violence was just part of the job" says lead author Dr Rose Chapman, from Curtin University of Technology in Perth, Western Australia.

The 113 nurses who took part in the study were mainly female, in their early 40s and had been in the profession for between six months and 40 years, with an average service of just under 18 years. Nearly two-thirds worked part-time.

The number and nature of incidents varied depending on what department the nurses worked in:

A quarter of the nurses (25%) experienced weekly events, 27% monthly events and 25% one event every six months. The remainder had not experienced any violence.

Incidents were highest in the emergency department, where staff reported an average of 46 incidents over the previous year, and in mental health, where the average was 40 incidents.

The lowest incidents were reported by midwives (an average of two incidents each) and surgical staff and paediatric staff (an average of four incidents each).

40% of staff had been involved in an incident with a weapon and 3% said it was a weekly occurrence. Weapons included guns (6%), knives (3%) and hospital equipment (32%). Weapon-related incidents were more common in the emergency department (weekly) and mental health (monthly).

Reporting practices also varied:

Despite experiencing more problems, nurses working in the emergency department were much less likely to report any incidents (42%) than staff in other areas (76%).

Half of all the nurses (50%) said they had reported an incident verbally -- to their immediate manager (29%), other senior nursing staff (14.5%) and/or to their friends or colleagues (6%). But only 16% of incidents were officially reported.

30% did not report incidents because they felt workplace violence was part of the job and 50% said that when they had reported an event, senior managers had failed to take action.

However 70% said they would report an incident if they or a colleague were injured or there was a chance they would be laying charges or making a claim for compensation.

"The nurses in our study were reluctant to report episodes of workplace violence unless they considered the event to be serious" says Dr Chapman. "This finding was supported by a retrospective audit of the hospital's formal incident reports, which showed that 96% of the reporting nurses had received one or more injuries as the result of a violent incident in the workplace.

"Understanding why nurses do or do not report incidents is very important as it can help educators and administrators to develop programmes that help to reduce workplace violence. Further research on how individuals adapt to violence in the workplace is also warranted."

"Workplace violence is never acceptable and it is a very sad indictment of society today that so many of the nurses in this study saw these incidents as part of their job" says journal Editor Roger Watson from the University of Sheffield, UK.

"Many of the studies published by the nursing media have focused on public facilities, but this study shows that violence is also an issue when patients are receiving private health care.

"It is vital that workplace violence is tackled to ensure that healthcare systems are able to retain good quality, trained staff. Any studies that provide an insight into how staff cope with violence, and what influences their decision to report incidents, are to be welcomed."

Wiley - Blackwell. "Violence is part of the job, say nurses, as study shows only 1 in 6 incidents are reported." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 3 February 2010. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/02/100203084343.htm>.

Wiley - Blackwell. (2010, February 3). Violence is part of the job, say nurses, as study shows only 1 in 6 incidents are reported. ScienceDaily. Retrieved March 3, 2015 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/02/100203084343.htm

Wiley - Blackwell. "Violence is part of the job, say nurses, as study shows only 1 in 6 incidents are reported." ScienceDaily. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/02/100203084343.htm (accessed March 3, 2015).

More From ScienceDaily

More Health & Medicine News

Featured Research

Mar. 3, 2015 — New assays can detect malaria parasites in human blood at very low levels and might be helpful in the campaign to eradicate malaria, reports a new study. An international team led by Ingrid Felger, ... full story

Mar. 3, 2015 — Adults over the age of 30 only catch flu about twice a decade, a new study suggests. So, while it may feel like more, flu-like illness can be caused by many pathogens, making it difficult to assess ... full story

Mar. 3, 2015 — No significant change in home habits of smokers have been observed in the aftermath of a ban on smoking in public spaces, researchers report. Greater inspiration to kick the habit likely comes from ... full story

Mar. 3, 2015 — Heart function has been associated with the development of dementia and Alzheimer's disease through a new study. Participants with decreased heart function, measured by cardiac index, were two to ... full story

Mar. 3, 2015 — Children of recently separated or divorced families are likelier to drink sugar-sweetened beverages than children in families where the parents are married, putting them at higher risk for obesity ... full story

Mar. 3, 2015 — Gastric bypass and similar stomach-shrinking surgeries are a popular option for obese patients looking to lose weight or treat type 2 diabetes. While the surgeries have been linked to a decreased ... full story

Mar. 3, 2015 — Most people consume more salt than they need and therefore have a higher risk of heart disease and stroke, which are the two leading causes of death worldwide. But a new study reveals that dietary ... full story

Mar. 3, 2015 — Twice as many children born to mothers who took antibiotics during pregnancy were diagnosed with asthma by age 3 than children born to mothers who didn’t take prenatal antibiotics, a new study has ... full story

Mar. 3, 2015 — Although sedatives are often administered before surgery, a randomized trial finds that among patients undergoing elective surgery under general anesthesia, receiving the sedative lorazepam before ... full story

Featured Videos

Mom Triumphs Over Tragedy, Helps Other Families

AP (Mar. 3, 2015) — After her son, Dax, died from a rare form of leukemia, Julie Locke decided to give back to the doctors at St. Jude Children&apos;s Research Hospital who tried to save his life. She raised $1.6M to help other patients and their families. (March 3)
Video provided by AP

Looted and Leaking, South Sudan's Oil Wells Pose Health Risk

AFP (Mar. 3, 2015) — Thick black puddles and a looted, leaking ruin are all that remain of the Thar Jath oil treatment facility, once a crucial part of South Sudan&apos;s mainstay industry. Duration: 01:13
Video provided by AFP

Woman Convicted of Poisoning Son

AP (Mar. 3, 2015) — A woman who blogged for years about her son&apos;s constant health woes was convicted Monday of poisoning him to death by force-feeding heavy concentrations of sodium through his stomach tube. (March 3)
Video provided by AP

Related Stories

Oct. 21, 2014 — Six percent of U.S. children and youth missed a day of school over the course of a year because they were the victim of violence or abuse at school. "This study really highlights the way school ... full story

Feb. 24, 2014 — Horizontal violence between nurses at the same level of authority is jeopardizing patient outcomes, research has revealed. A relationship between horizontal violence and ineffective communication, as ... full story

Aug. 22, 2011 — Nearly 17 percent of nurses who work in outpatient chemotherapy infusion centers reported being exposed on their skin or eyes to the toxic drugs they deliver, according to a new ... full story

July 7, 2011 — Children who witness domestic violence are more likely to be in abusive intimate relationships and experience psychological problems such as post traumatic stress disorder in adulthood, according to ... full story

Mar. 16, 2011 — Although nearly 80 percent of female victims of intimate partner violence visit emergency departments for medical complaints, as many as 72 percent are not identified as victims of abuse. Of those ... full story

ScienceDaily features breaking news and videos about the latest discoveries in health, technology, the environment, and more -- from major news services and leading universities, scientific journals, and research organizations.